Metallic door-mat.



L. S. HOWE.

METALLIC DOOR MAT.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB.19, 1912.

Patented July 21, 1914.

lVl/E/V TOR A TTORN WITNESSES.

. 'irnn STATES PA ENT Q FICE i LEON s. HOWE, or New YORK, N. Y. i

METALLIC ,DOOR-MAT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEON S. Howe, a citizen of the United States, and a'resident of the city 'ofNew York county of New York, and State ofNew York have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Door-Mats, set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to metallic door mats. Its principal object is to increase the scraping facilities provided by the mat without increasing its cost and in fact, in many instances, actually decreasing its cost. To

this end there is contemplated the employ-.

ment of strip-steelemuch lighter than heretofore used but crinkled so as to increase the lateral extent of the edge of a convolution of such crinkled strip-steel, which edge serves as a support against the floor; and to provide lateral offsets through .the medium of the crinkles which offsets themselves profolding of the sections of a mat whose principal scraping parts are formed of crinkled or corrugated metal.

The above and further objects of the invention will be pointed out more particularly in the accompanying; claims and will also be clear from the following specification, both of which should be read in connection with the illustrative embodiment of the invention described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application, in which like characters designate corresponding parts and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a mat constructed in accordancewith this invention, parts of said mat beingbroken out in two directions so as to illustrate that the design of parts shown may be repeated indefinitely for different sized mats; and parts of said figure being illustrated'by heavy dash lines; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view partly in section on line HII of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 shows a modification.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the mat comprises a plurality of suitable frame-members comprising side links 1,

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J uly 21', 1914, Application filed February 19, 1912. Serial No. 678,630. i

end pieces Qfand, connecting crossor pivotrods 3. The side links are disposed with their opposite end-portions lapping, and

to provide a scraping edge lengthwise of each respective link. Outside of the side links the end portions of the cross-rods 3 are bent so as to form heads 6 forretaining the links against displacement.

The end pieces 2 of the frame are of a compound nature comprising each a relatively heavy strip 7, a lighter piece 8, and a rod 9. The strip 7 extends entirely across the end of the matfrom one set of side links thereof as 10 are bent at right angles and lap the outer vertical surface of the end portions of the adjacent side links 1. The relatively lighter piece 8 is fixed to the inner to the other and the opposite end, portions vertical surface of the strip 7 and has its opposite ends 11 bent parallel with the ends of the strip 7 and arranged to engagethe inner surface-of said side links. The bent end portions 10 and 11 thus form pockets into which the end portions of the. adjacent side links I extend and said links areretained by'the cross-rod 9 which is similar to the cross-rods 3 and which extends through alined aperturesformed in the links and in thepfortions 10 and 11. length the inner section 8 is provided with lateral projections 12 produced by an excess length of said strip being folded upon itself as clearly shown in Fig. 1. These projections are spaced uniformly throughout the length of the member and the'cross-rod 9 extends also through apertures in said projections. z 1

Between the marginal frame members Intermediate its J 1 and 2 are arranged a series of sections of crinkled, or corrugated strap metal the, crinkles or; corrugations of which extend vertically, or transversely of the strap. These sections are given various convolutions and are retained in their respective positions by semi-circular portions at top and bottom of. all of the Ss are formed with the alinedi the cross-rods 3 and 9 which extend through suitable apertures 13 formed in parts of said sections. Alternate sections comprise substantially S-shaped convolutions and the intermediate sections W-shaped convolutions.

The section of crinkled strap-iron between the end member 2 of a mat and the next adjacent cross-rod is formed into a series of substantially S-shaped portions produced by convolutions of a continuous crinkled length of the strap in such manner that each alternate S of the section is reversed and the apertures 13 through which the cross-rods extend. The semi-circular portions next the end members 2 are received within pockets formed by the projections 12 and are retained by the cross-rods 9, said projections 12 extending into recesses 14 and, 1% which are formed at the juncture of one 8 with its The intermediate W-shaped secneighbor. tions preferably have their opposite points flattened as at 15 and these flattened portions are extended into mesh with the recesses 14 of the 8 sections and are retained by the cross-rods 3. As the points of the Ws are alternated, that is since they are not oppositely disposed to each other, it follows that the third section of the mat, which is of similar S-shaped design to the first section, is staggered relative to said first section so that the recesses thereof may accommodate themselves to the portions 15 of the second section. This structure provides a portion at the end of the third section of the mat which it would be impracticable to fill by a continuation of the S-shaped convolutions, and for this reason the adjacent portions of the second and fourth section, which are W-sections, are formed with semi-circular portions 16 which extend into the space left by the discontinuance of the second section and serve to provide ample scraping surface therein. The portions 16 are continued back into the W-sections and are offset as at 16, for better filling the space of said section, and the end portions thereof are engaged by cross-rods 3. Obviously this method of construction may be carried on indefinitely for producing mats of any width or'length by simply duplicating the parts and providing longer or shorter end pieces and connecting rods.

The use of crinkled or corrugated strap metal as illustrated enables the employment of material of considerably less weight than would otherwise be required and at the same time is fully as capable of withstanding vertical compression as is the heavier material. In this way the cost of manufacture is reduced while the efficiency of the product is increased by reason of the additional amount of scraping edge provided by the crinkles. Scraping edges are provided even' lengthwise of the strips. A more extensive bearing upon the floor is also obtained.

The end portions of the side links 1 are rounded as at 17 and the recesses 14: of the S-sections of the mat are of suflicient size, and all portions of the W-sections, as for instance the portions 15 and the portions 18, are flattened so as to provide a non-interlocking relation between said sections and which will not interfere with easy folding of the mat. It should be here noted, however, that it is within the scope of this invention to provide a non-interlocking relation between sections of a foldable mat, comprising crinkled material as illustrated, in any convenient manner and that it is not desired to limit this invention to the flattening out of the crinkles at any point for this ur ose.

WVhat is claimed and what is desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is 1. A folding door-mat comprising a plurality of scraping members of crinkled stripmetal bent lengthwise into-various convolutions and mounted so that the crinkles extend vertically and give an extensive scraping edge in all directions and an extensive supporting edge against the floor; framemembers for binding said convolutions together into relatively folding mat-sections, the overlapping portions of the relatively folding mat-sections being provided with a fiat bearing part for preventing the interlocking against folding of the adjacent sections.

2. A folding reversible door-mat comprising a plurality of hinged sections, each section being made up of various convolutions of crinkled strap-metal with the crinkles extending vertically to give an extensive scraping edge in all directions and an opposite extensive supporting edge against the floor, the convolutions of one section meshing with the convolution of its neighbor; and cross-rods piercing the meshing portions of said sections and binding the same together into relatively folding mat-sections, the adjacent portions of the relatively folding mat-sections being provided with a flat bearing part for preventing the interlocking against folding of adj acent meshing mat-sections.

3. A folding reversible door-mat comprising a plurality of hinged sections, each section being made up of various convolutions of crinkled strap-metal with the crinkles extending vertically to give an extensive scraping edge in all directions and an opposite extensive supporting edge against the floor,

the convolutions of one section meshing with provided with fiat faces adapted to be engaged by the crinkles of its neighbor adjacent said cross-rods for facilitating the turn ing of the juxtaposed sections relative to each other.

4. A folding reversible door-mat comprising a plurality of hinged sections, each section being made up of various convolutions of crinkled strap-metal with the crinkles extending vertically to give an extensive scraping edge in all directions and an opposite extensive supporting edge against the floor, the convolutions of one section meshing with the convolution of its neighbor; cross- 15 rods piercing the meshing portions of said sections and binding the same together; means permitting a relative turning of the sections upon each said rod; a frame comprising members formed with parts extending between portions of adjacent mat sections; and cross-rods piercing the extended parts of said end members and fixing said end members to said mat sections.

In witness whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

a LEON S. HOWE.

Witnesses:

SIDNEY NEwBoRG, LEONARD DAY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

